Trials, Tribulations, and Transformation
by Designation M
Summary: Two ordinary youths, different in every way, have been subjected to an extraordinary situation that may dwell on them for the rest of their days. They, along with a few others, go caught in an intergalactic war involving an ancient but powerful alien race. As Jack and Miko struggle to survive, something begins to grow between them, something they didn't think possible to happen.


_**Hello everyone. Unless you haven't already been wondering, I have been in the process of a new set of stories revolving around the series of Transformers: Prime. One story in particular that has been on my mind for the past few months and I am pretty excited to get started and put it to work. Not only because it involves possibly my favorite Transformers pairing by far, but also I will have the chance to construct a set of stories that will offer edification for those who love God and love growing in spirit.**_

_**(Said story is mentioned in "Preview: We're Not So Different," you can find in my profile).**_

_**I pray that this publishing will go well and I hope the lot of you enjoy it as well as learn from it. To those who read this, I am not only writing this story because I take great joy in it, but because I do it out of love for my fellow man and for my family in Christ, whether they're Transformers fans or not. **_

_**This is Designation: M, trembling and grateful follower of Jesus Christ, and I give my greetings and my love to those come across this story. God bless you all and may The Lord bless you.**_

_**I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Let us begin and…roll out.**_

**Introduction**

**Jasper, Nevada**

_(((Hey, it's Jack. I can't answer cuz I'm probably out saving the world right now))). _

_BEEP#..._

_Click._

"Ugh. What am I doing?" muttered a tired but slightly-exasperated young lady.

She dropped on the bed next to her, releasing the inactive pink cellphone in her hand, allowing it to rest on the bed whilst she did the same.

The girl looked up at the ceiling fan above her, it was spinning at a fairly-fast pace and was providing a gentle breeze in the bedroom.

However, the young lady had far too much on her mind to pay attention to her surroundings.

As she was resting there, the girl began to twirl the front bangs of her dark brown and pink-highlighted hair around her left forefinger, attempting to ease the anxiety that was keeping her awake.

It barely made a difference to her emotional tension.

After failing to calm herself down, the girl let out a frustrated growl and grabbed one of her pillows from the head of her bed. She pressed it against her face and let out a great big yell.

"_Aaarrrrrgghhh__.__"_

Fortunately, the rough fabric and thick fiber of the pillow managed to muffle the frustrated young lady's potentially-loud scream, effectively preventing any noise from disturbing the girl's parents from their slumbers.

Host parents that is.

_Come on Miko, pull yourself together girl. You're getting all worked up over nothing. It's not even worth losing sleep over, even if I don't get that much sleep anyway._

_There's no reason for you to be calling anyone for anything at… _ Miko grabbed her cellphone and observed the time display. Her eyes widened as she looked at the time.

_ 3:43 am?! Man, no wonder he's not picking up. Of course, he wouldn't pick up. It's the middle of the night and he's most likely sound asleep or working another late-shift at that burger joint._

_What would I even say to him? 'Hi Jack.' 'How are you?' 'I just wanted call and say thank you for SAVING US FROM THE MESS I GOT US INTO!' _

_He probably wouldn't want to talk to me anyway since-STOP! Errgh! Why am I thinking like this?! I never overthink things! Why should 'now' be any different? Darby is just some boy!_

Miko froze in her train of thought. After a moment she took a deep, slow breath. As she exhaled, she turned to look at her bedroom window. Miko stood up from her bed and walked towards it.

She peered down and looked up the street lane. As Miko's eyes adjusted to the dark scene she saw a familiar heavy-duty truck parked by the curb, with an even more familiar color of forest green.

"Bulkhead," whispered Miko. "I…almost got you killed, how can you still want to protect me," she said sadly, her voice barely a whisper.

Miko turned her head towards a full-body mirror attached to her bedroom door.

Turning on her bedroom lights in order to get a better look at her herself.

Unfortunately, Miko wasn't mentally prepared for what happened next.

She took one glance at her reflection and she regretted it almost immediately.

Miko was in her usual night wear. This consisted of a pair of pink slacks with a green alien image and a purple tank-top. She was barefoot with the same matching burgundy nail-polish. But this was not what got Miko's attention.

Miko's dark brown/pink hair was no longer in a neat pony-tail she usually wore asleep. It was completely disheveled and hung down to her shoulders.

Her bangs were sticking to her forehead due the night sweat developing on her brow.

Miko's honey-brown eyes were slightly bloodshot and were starting to feel sore.

Looking over her reflection, one thing became quite transparent: Miko was a mess.

And she did not take it in well.

Lost in her overwhelming emotions, Miko's breathing began to rise.

She grabbed her hair in exasperation, shut her eyes, and shook her head. Then she opened her mouth to let out a scream…

…right before she covered, with both hands, her mouth to silence herself.

With one hand to cover her mouth, Miko reached for one of her pillows with the other.

As if she was building the pressure in her voice, Miko took the pillow and released her frustrations into it.

"SCRAP! SCRAP! SCRAP! SCRAP!"

Satisfied, Miko lifted her head, taking in deep, tired breaths. Then she remained silent for a moment, listening to the background.

After listening for a moment, Miko managed to catch the soft snoring. Finally, Miko let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she has avoided a needless encounter with her host parents.

She turned off her lights and went back to her bed. She went under her covers, still holding onto the pillow she yelled into.

As Miko began to settle in, she finally started to fall asleep…until her vision drifted over to her cellphone. Her attempts to make a call suddenly came back to her.

Thinking about the person who has been the center of her thoughts, Miko tightened her embrace around the pillow.

_I'm only fooling myself. Jack was only doing what he would for any friend in danger, that's all it was. Besides, it was my fault that I was in that mine in the first place! I am the reason we all were in that mess! I almost got everyone killed! Bulkhead! Arcee!_

Miko shut her eyes tightly, trying to fight back her tears, but to no avail. Droplets fell from eyes and onto her bed sheets, staining them with her great sadness.

_Jack…he almost got killed by Starscream and he…he protected me! I don't deserve to be protected! Not by him! I should have…I should never have kissed him! _

Miko curled up in her blankets and pulled her knees into her chest, shaking in her sorrow.

_I'm just a stupid, impulsive little girl who only knows to mess things up for everyone, even the Autobots! It's a wonder they didn't ban me from the base already._

_Why would he be interested in me anyway?! How could he? He clearly likes that cheerleader captain…Sara…Sierra…whatever her name is! She's has looks that I could never have. So why would Jack ever like someone like…someone like… _

Miko finally couldn't hold it in anymore. The emotional pain became so great, that it felt as if someone had Miko's heart in a vice-grip, one that may never let go.

She placed her face into her pillow in order to drown out the sound of her sobbing.

_Why?! What's wrong with me?! Am I that bad looking Jack? Wait. Of course I am, I had to look in the mirror in order to see the 'ugly' truth. But…why? Why am I like this?! _

_Why can't I be smart like Rafael, or brave like Jack? Or be kind like Jack? At least they can follow simple instructions. At least they weren't the first to break up the band. _

Miko gripped her arms and began sink her nails in her arms. Miko began to draw blood. She felt the pain, but at the moment, she did not care.

_I deserve this pain…and worse. I've been nothing but trouble…to everyone, to the Bots, to Bulkhead…to Optimus…Jack. _

_Why?! Why was I born the way I am?! Why can't I be a different person?! Why can't I be better?! Smarter?! BEAUTIFUL?! Worth…worth lo-oving?!_

"Why…why was I…even born?" croaked Miko, her throat raw from her crying.

The pillow was beginning to get soaked from Miko's seemingly endless wash of anguish. Blood from the cuts on Miko's arms began to soak into her bed sheets, but she didn't seem to notice. Her emotional pain was too much for her notice what was happening around her. She continued to cry, wallowing in her thoughts of self-loathing and self-pity.

After a few long grueling minutes, Miko's sobbing finally began to soften and she began to settle into sleep once more.

Even though her crying has ceased, the pain in Miko's heart remained.

As she succumbed to her need to sleep, Miko managed to whisper a few last words.

"Why God? Why couldn't Jack just…let me…diiiieeee?"

**To be continued…**

_**That was…pretty heavy, I know. But not every great story has a happy beginning, I know mankind didn't (I'm referring to the Fall of Man of course).**_

_**What happened in this story can be just as real in the real world than in this story. **_

_**I too have had dark days when I hated myself. You see, I have Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD or ADD. I used to consider it an incurable disease and I even denied that I had the condition because I was embarrassed of it. I kept my distance and kept to myself for a long time. I wasn't very happy. I even once told myself "I don't deserve God's love." **_

_**Well, from what I learned, no one who has ever sinned deserves anything from God, yet in His Grace, He freely gives us what we don't deserve. That's the kind of God we live under. He is a God of Love. He loves us so that He gave us His Son to die for our countless sins, for all of our many screw-ups.**_

_**When I gave my life to Christ, my life changed. My self-confidence grew and I've come to realize how silly I was to loathe myself the way I did.**_

_**Whatever is bugging you, even it's because of you or if you want someone to love you, don't let it get you down. It's gets you nowhere. God loves us unconditionally. We don't have to earn His love, we can't anyway. He already gave it to us.**_

_**As for others, love is given, not earned. We are to love our neighbors AND our enemies. **_

_**We must love ourselves as well, we can't hate ourselves. When we are reborn in Christ, we are born anew, being molded into God's hands as He intended for us in the very beginning. **_

_**When we become aware of our erroneous ways, we forgive ourselves instead of becoming "overwhelmed by excessive sorrow" (2 Corinthians 2:7).**_

_**We must hate sin, but not ourselves. Whatever mess you ever got yourself into, God will get you out of it. Just have faith.**_

_**Now, thank you all for taking the time to read this. Brace yourselves, this was only the introduction. We will finish the race strongly, just be sure to keep up. ^^**_

_**If anything can be improved in this chapter or any chapter, suggestions would be appreciated.**_

_**Until next time family. God bless you.**_

**Till All Are One…**


End file.
